The Importance of Context in Social Justice Leadership: Implications for Policy and Practice

Abstract

<p style="text-align: justify;">This article contributes to the evidence base on the significance of context in enacting social justice leadership. It draws on data from the International School Leadership Development Network of 20+ countries who adopted a common qualitative approach involving interviews with principals identified as being social justice leaders. The article focuses on four case studies of Irish principals in varying primary elementary school contexts. Findings reveal local contextual features significantly impacted principals' perceptions, actions, and self-efficacy as social justice leaders. While the actions and motivation of the principals is similar, two of the principals, working in school contexts where the values and norms are not consonant with broader society, appear to lack confidence in their practice of social justice leadership. This article extends the existing evidence base by arguing for enhanced critical consciousness of all stakeholders related to the personal, institutional and community contexts in schools. It recommends a more flexible and iterative process of policy development to facilitate a more nuanced understanding of the cultural and ideological struggles in schools. Finally, it calls for governments and policy makers to take responsibility for and support disadvantaged communities as education alone cannot solve the issue of inequity.</p>

The scientific evolution of social justice leadership in education: structural and longitudinal analysis of the existing knowledge base, 2003–2022

“…Scholars have also investigated SJL within the framework of socio-ecological theory (Berkovich, 2014;Zhang et al, 2018;King et al, 2021). The theory defines social life based on the interactions between individuals and multiple subsystems (immediate, broader, and macro-social structures) in society (Bronfenbrenner, 1979).…”

“…This has resulted in socioeconomically, culturally, and ethnically diverse student populations and commissioned schools to prepare students for participation in a more multicultural, multiethnic, multinational, and multi-religious society (Jean-Marie et al, 2009;Rissanen et al, 2023). The global education reform policies introduced in line with neoliberal agendas have also focused on system and research interest in social justice (King et al, 2021). On the one hand, the politics of neoliberalism use education to perpetuate societal inequities by supporting the dominance of elite groups over the marginalized and urging people always to strengthen their position (Berkovich, 2014).…”